Macedonian Unions Tangled in Election Politics

They accuse the head of the “Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia”, Zivko Mitrevski, of breaking the Union’s previously stated principle of staying out of the June 5 election campaign.

“It is regretful that Mitrevski did this without the consent of the federation’s highest body, the council,” says Mikjo Stojanovski, the head of the Union of Transport Workers, one of the members of the federation.

On Monday, Mitrevski, along with other leaders from competing federations, met with Gruevski, head of the ruling VMRO DPMNE, and after the talk took journalists' questions under the election banner of the ruling party.

Asked whether his presence under the banner means he supports the PM, Mitrevski insisted that “the stand of the unions is clear; we are unbiased, independent and apolitical”.

One month before the elections, the Federation issued a public statement in which it said it would remain out of the political election battle.

Pece Gruevski, the head of the Worker’s Union of Court Employees, also a member of the federation, is against Mitrevski’s move.

“The federation must not involve itself in political games. Every polarization of the federation is harmful to its credibility,” he says.  

On Monday, Gruevski gathered the heads of the largest union federations in the country and promised them that if he wins he will meet their demand to determine a minimum wage.

One trade union leader was more direct in praising Gruevski's government.

After the meeting on Monday, Slobodan Antovski, the head of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions, told reporters: “we hope this government stays in office”. He argued that “none of the previous governments, [except Gruevski’s] found time to sit with us and talk”.

Macedonia is one of the poorest countries in Europe, fighting staggering poverty that affects over 30 per cent of the population.

In its election platform for the 2008 general elections, VMRO DPMNE said it would reduce some guarantees for workers in order to stimulate employers to hire more employees.

However, the party later dropped this policy in 2009, when the country started feeling the effects of the global economic crisis.

This policy is again part of the current election platform of the party, which is running for another four year mandate.

Gruevski has been in power since 2006.